ESCONDIDO (KGTV) — Jailene Cuevas Mandujano posted to social media on Thursday asking for donations to send to Los Angeles. She says within a couple of days, San Diegans dropped off thousands of items at her home in Escondido.
“Every hour, folks were dropping things off right in my front yard,” Mandujano said.
Jailene and her friend packed it all into a couple of cars and drove the donations to Los Angeles this weekend. Local organizations then handed it off to families impacted by the wildfires.
“Los Angeles County will always be a big part of me, with my family still living there. That was something that empowered me to rally up my community here,” Mandujano said.
Jailene’s family members are working at Los Angeles shelters and hospitals. They say the needs of the community change every day.
“Initially, I was collecting things like blankets, clothes. It seems there are a lot of folks are collecting those things. So now I'm shifting gears to collect items for first responders.”
Jailene is now asking for things like Gatorade, Red Bull, protein bars, and beef jerky. If you’d like to drop off donations at Jailene’s home in Escondido, email her at Sdhumansforchange@gmail.com
Click here for a list of verified organizations collecting physical donations for disaster relief in Los Angeles. The Red Cross is also asking for financial support. The community can help by visiting redcross.org [redcross.org], calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or texting the word CAWILDFIRES to 90999 to make a donation.
